Alf Hambe

{{Short description|Swedish singer (1931–2022)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2022}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Alf Gunnar Hambe

| image = Alf Hambe Åbo Visans vänner 2011.jpg

| image_size =

| caption = Hambe in 2011

| background =

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1931|01|24}}

| birth_place = Rävinge, Halland, Sweden

| origin =

| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|05|06|1931|01|24|df=yes}}

| death_place = Steninge, Halland, Sweden

| genre =

| occupation = Composer, author, singer

| instrument =

| years_active = 1959–2019

| website =

}}

Alf Gunnar Hambe{{cite web | url=https://www.hembygd.se/getinge/plats/223739/picture/2336366 | title=Alf Hambe med hustru Ulla 11-911 }} (24 January 1931 – 6 May 2022){{cite web | url=https://minnessidor.fonus.se/memorial_page/memorial_page_personal_info.php?order_id=4026920&set_site_id=2&cat=home&sign=d09a8df68f63826a53f0f7da08cef985 | title=Minnessida för Alf Hambe | date=23 June 2022 }}{{cite news |title=Vispoeten Alf Hambe död |url=https://www.dn.se/kultur/vispoeten-alf-hambe-dod/ |access-date=7 May 2022 |work=Dagens Nyheter |date=6 May 2022}} was a Swedish author, composer, and singer-songwriter, who was influential in the genre of Swedish ballads (visor).{{cite news |title=Vispoeten Alf Hambe är död – "skapade ett eget poetisk universum" |url=https://sverigesradio.se/artikel/alf-hambe-ar-dod-ordmalaren-fran-vasterhavet-har-halat-segel--2 |access-date=7 May 2022 |work=Kulturnytt |publisher=Sveriges Radio |date=6 May 2022}}

Hambe was born in Rävinge near Halmstad in Halland, on the west coast of Sweden. His father, Johan Hambe, was a teacher and headmaster at the local primary school, and also played the piano and wrote poetry. Alf Hambe went to secondary school in Halmstad. After his graduation (studentexamen) in 1951, he studied in Helsingborg to become a primary school teacher.{{cite encyclopedia |title=Hambe, Alf G | encyclopedia=Vem är det: Svensk biografisk handbok | publisher=P.A. Norstedt & Söner | access-date=7 May 2022 | editor=Jönsson, Lena | year=2001 | pages=442–443 | url=https://runeberg.org/vemardet/2001/0442.html}} He moved to Gothenburg in 1956, and had several temporary teaching jobs until the mid 1960s, when he became a full-time author, composer and singer. In 1967 he returned to Halland with his family and lived in Steninge for the rest of his life.

Hambe wrote more than 500 songs and poems, often inspired by the nature surrounding the place where he lived, and released more than 20 records. What made him original was his poetic and very personal way of using the Swedish language, sometimes by creating new words. He received many prizes and stipends during his lifetime, including the Evert Taube grant in 1979 and 1990, the Fred Åkerström grant in 2007, and the royal medal Litteris et Artibus in 2008.{{cite web |title=Alf Hambe |url=https://www.kungahuset.se/sveriges-monarki/ordnar-och-medaljer/sok-ordens--och-medaljforlaningar/2008/2021-07-09-alf-hambe |website=Kungahuset |publisher=Royal Court of Sweden |access-date=7 May 2022}}